Swallow First

For the past 6 months, 2 of our kids have been on full TB treatment while another 20 have been on prophylactic TB meds for contact and high risk. That boosted the number of kids getting daily meds up drastically as for the last 6 months over 30 of our kids have been getting meds daily for everything from HIV to epilepsy to anemia to of course, TB. It got a little chaotic at times…especially when I forgot to tell the 4 year olds to swallow before telling them to open their mouths to show me they’d finished. But now all of our kids are officially TB free and no longer being treated. Giving meds has just gotten a whole lot easier (only twenty-some now) just in time for a possible evacuation sometime soon. We even had a little celebration with my new friends at the TB clinic today. The nurses will no longer cringe when I show up with huge stacks of medical books to collect medication!!

Runnin' Wild

After many weeks of training and competing, 3 of our kids have done it…they have qualified for the Namibian national running competition in Swakopmund, Namibia. If they win there, they will move on to an internationally hosted competition!

About a month ago, many of our kids competed in a large junior and secondary school track and field competition for all of the Katima area. Being one of the smallest schools in the area, we did exceptionally well. We came home with seven 1st places, eight 3rd places, and four 3rd places. Goty (top photo) got first place in the 1500 m and the 100 m, Lisedi (middle photo, maroon jersey) got first place in the 400 m, the 200 m, and the 100 m, and Djolo (bottom photo, green jersey) got first in the 200 m. These were the 3 that qualified to move onto the regional competition, held yesterday.

At the regional competition both Goty and Djolo won 1st place again in their respective races. Lisedi competed only in the 200m and 400m, but also still won 1st place. They are all 3 very excited to be able to continue on to the national level in Swakopmund, but please pray for some lost paperwork issues with Lisedi. If they are not able to be obtained soon, it may keep her from competing. It has already kept her from competing at the national level in soccer this past June.

Speaking of which, I never got around to blogging about it, but there were similar regional to national level competitions held for both basketball and soccer this past June and July. Ten of our kids qualified for each at the national level and traveled to Windhoek to compete. There were a couple that even came very close to qualifying for the international level in soccer. Since it was only their first time in this type of competition, many have high hopes of doing much better this year since they know more of what to expect.

Opps

So, what good is a blog about a flood with no pictures of water?? Sorry bout that. The first two pics were taken right outside my house. The top one was taken this afternoon while the second shows what the same place looked like just a month and a half ago.

This last picture is of the trees, or what’s left of them, on Hippo Island located just across from the children’s home.

Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming...

I apologize for no real update on the flood yet, but it is most certainly upon us. You may remember me posting a few blogs this time last year about the flood. That was the first time the flooding was bad enough for evacuation of COZV. Well, this past year’s hot season needed to be very hot to get the water tables even close to where they needed to be and that didn’t happen. We also didn’t get anywhere near the rain we should have in the so called “rainy season,” but with the water tables not going down combined with continuous rain in Angola equals flood time yet again.

Last Saturday we began stage one of evacuation…all vehicles that couldn’t drive through wheel-deep water exited stage left. There is a 4 km dirt road back to the children’s home in which the puddles have now become ponds and the small rickety bridge is now under water. When I left to take Ray and the Curry’s to the airport on Thursday morning we had to take the pickup truck out to the other vehicles and got out just shortly before the bridge covered over. By the time I returned on Friday, I had to be brought back by boat.

Today has started stage 2.37…the packing and laying of sandbags. We went in this morning and bought 500 bags (we hope to not use them all) from the mill and everyone has been packing and laying all day. The water is quite close to my house now. There used to be a very large dry area between my house and the river, but the river is now just a few meters from my front door. The water has already crossed the fence in one spot and in another is rushing towards the staff housing just outside the compound.

The mighty Zambezi has been rising at a rate of at least 3 inches per day and sometimes up to 8 for a total of more than 8.5 feet in just 3 and a half weeks. (If) and when evacuation time comes, we will be camping in a plot of 6 ft high grass graciously lent to us by the Catholic priest unless we can find a better accommodations last minute. We will have to supply our own food, water, housing, septic, etc. Talk about a chaotic camping trip…never fear, adventure is near.

Please pray for wisdom in the evacuation timing (never would be fantastic) and procedures as well as safety for everyone in the area. It is of course not just us being flooded out, but many, many villages as well. Some in the western Caprivi have already been evacuated. Please pray for their health, safety, and for God’s provisions of the relief needs all along the Zambezi this year.

Changing of the Guard

Ever since the Minks retired from COZV this past August, the stateside board of directors has been fervishly praying and seeking out new full-time directors. And as God’s perfect will and timing would have it, Travis and Lorna Curry magically crossed their radar screen. They had just recently finished their missionary training and were seeking out God’s placement for them when the two paths crossed. And now there are only a few minor steps (ok, really major—like quitting their jobs, selling everything they own, and raising support) to go before they will be here full-time in September.

But these past 2 weeks were extra special as they were both able to get time off work for a honeymoon preview of their new lives to come. It was really a privilege and honor to be able to meet them in person and see first hand the love and heart they already have for these kids, the staff, and the surrounding community here. They both have a great job ahead of them (who doesn’t raising 57 kids) but I can’t think of 2 more spiritually prepared and equipped people to tackle it. Plus they both have a great sense of humor…that, God, and patience are the magic keys to survival here. You can check out their blog at http://www.tlcinhisservice.blogspot.com/ to follow their own dialogue.

So that’s the long-term change of the guard, but there has been a short-term exchange as well. Ray Mastnjak, a member of the COZ Board, has been the interim director here for the last 6 months and has done a wonderful job at stabilizing a frenzied world, implementing a new management system, and building productive relationships with the community. Dave Walker is next in line to return to director duty, but until then Jenny and I are up to bat. For the next 6 weeks Jenny will be the director here and I will be the business manager. I’m already walking crooked by the weight of the extra keys on my belt and we are less of a few cows after my first ever payroll last month. Its fun learning to do new things, but please also pray we survive ; ) Things are already a little more than insane with the imminent flood.

Fly Away Home

Ninety-one days till I'm home. Now that my return tickets have been set in stone, it has become very real that I will soon be leaving my home away from home. Living someplace for a length of time forces you to settle in and get comfortable. Never had I dreamed I would wake up every morning in Africa and consider it normal. Yet spending day in and day out with these kids and staff and this lovely African life here has become very much of a norm that I love. God has placed in me a love for these kids that can only come from Him; for their lives, their health, their well-being, their spirituality. I can’t love like Him on my own. In some respects I guess that’s what it will be like when I have my own kids someday (only more so of course), but for now I’m content with just the preview.

Don’t get me wrong, I miss my family and friends very much and can’t wait to spend a whole summer at home (for the first time since the 7th grade), but I could also never replace the experiences I have had while God has placed me here to live, learn, and grow in Namibia. Realistically I have no idea if God has plans for me to ever see these kids again. While praying about all these thoughts this morning, God’s ever-timeliness led me to John 13. Verse 1 reads, “Jesus knew it was time for him to leave this world and go back to the Father. He had always loved those who were his own in the world, and he loved them all the way to the end.” Though clearly I’m not Jesus in this verse, He always promises to understand us and from this I found great peace confirming He does. Whether these kids are in my life just for this time, or if we will meet again someday this side of heaven, I will always love them.

Q=R-S-T

Ques = Really Silly Things. Africa really should be spelled with a Q somehow because everywhere you go, there is one, and 95% percent of the time, it’s a long one. Fortunately many places are kind enough to have benches, buuut you are still left waiting at…doctor’s offices, the pharmacy, the hospital, clinics, or any other government related place. There is no such thing as appointments here, its first come, first serve, and the rest wait.

For example, if you want to take a child to the doctor, you go to the hospital. First off, you show up at least an hour before opening time. Then you sit in a que to get their health card stamped and numbered, then you sit in a que to wait for the doors to open, then stand in a que to get weighed, then sit in que to get temperature and blood pressure taken, then sit in a que to see a general doctor who will then prescribe you to sit in yet another que of the appropriate “specialist” for whatever the problem might be, then last but not least you sit in que at either the bandage/injection room or the pharmacy, or both.

Today in particular was the worst ques I’ve ever been in. Jenny (the primary guardian) and I went to the Home Affairs office to try and iron out some birth certificate issues. It didn’t open till 8am, but we didn’t want to be sitting in the que all day (ha!), so we left at 6. We arrived to find at least a dozen people already waiting. And, as our luck would continue to have it, they called about 30 people with special cards to come first…the leftovers from the day before they never got to! Encouraging beginning, but at least a little entertainment was to come. With so many people waiting so long on sardinely-packed benches in the middle of the summer, things are bound to get ugly. When the workers announced going on a tea break at 10, it was just fortunate punches weren’t thrown. Before we knew it the police and NBC (Namibian Broadcasting Company) were brought in and interviews taken of the ever-maddening que issue. Well, needless to say we didn’t leave until 3:30, 9 hours later, and forget the fact that our mission is thus far unsuccessful. Next time we will attempt leaving at 5am?

Pictured here is NBC interviewing yet another disgruntled que-sitter at the Home Affairs office today.